Vicki Delany, a Canadian crime writer, has written a series of Cozy Mysteries. A Tea by the Sea Mystery series is one of them. It is a delightful series featuring Lily Roberts, owner of a Cape Cod Tearoom.
Continuing Characters in the Series
This series takes place on the Outer Cape of Cape Cod facing Cape Cod Bay where Lily Roberts recently opened an authentic English Tearoom in a refurbished old stone building located on the property of her grandmother Rose’s grand old Victorian B & B.
Lily, a professional pastry chef, left the restaurant business in New York City to realize her dream of owning and operating her own tearoom she named “Tea by the Sea”. She also helps her 85-year-old grandmother run her B & B “Victoria-on-Sea” by cooking the breakfast part of the bed & breakfast early each morning before her tearoom opens at 11:00 A.M.
Lily lives in the guest cottage on the B & B property, along with her labradoodle Eclair, so named because of the cream stripe that runs through her curly brown fur. Grandmother Rose has a spoiled cat with the Scottish name Robert the Bruce (Robbie, for short).
Other continuing characters include Lily’s best friend Bernie (Bernadette), a forensic accountant who leaves her NYC job to move to Cape Cod for the summer to write a book. Then there is Simon, the young (and good looking) Englishman who takes over his uncle’s job as gardener for the extensive gardens that surround the B & B and tearoom. Lily’s helpers in the tearoom include Cheryl & Marybeth, mother & daughter, who help run the tearoom while Lily bakes.
Each of these characters, including the animals, appear throughout the entire series and lend importance to each storyline.
Because each book seems to include a murder that somehow always involves Lily and her family & friends, we also get to know the crotchety old town police detective Chuck Williams - nearing retirement age and rather lazy - and his new assistant, Detective Amy Redmond, young and experienced (coming to Cape Cod from the Boston PD), but under the command of Detective Williams, who tends to narrow his focus to not investigate as well as he should.
Synopses of this 5 Book Series
Tea & Treachery
A Cape Cod tea shop owner (Lily Roberts) must solve the murder of a local real estate developer to help her feisty grandmother, Rose, out of a jam after Rose is accused of the murder.
Murder in a Teacup
Cape Cod tearoom owner/pastry chef, Lily Roberts, gets herself in trouble when she unknowingly serves one of her grandmother's B&B guests a deadly cup of tea. Lily has to assume her part-time sleuth role to find the real killer and save herself.
Murder Spills the Tea
When a popular TV baking show comes to Cape Cod to film at Lily’s charming tearoom, a celebrity chef and judge is murdered at the tearoom. Having lost his temper on-camera with a member of Lily's staff, Cheryl Wainwright ends up a suspect in his murder. Now Lily must investigate to clear her friend’s name.
Steeped in Malice
Fine English teas are always served in china teacups (never mugs), as presentation is important. Finding herself low on teacups for her tearoom, Lily attends an antique show to replace her fragile stock. There she finds a delightful Peter Rabbit-themed tea set in a wicker basket, perfect for children’s events.
Days later, a rude woman (Kimberly) arrives at the tearoom to demand the tea set back. She wants an envelope hidden in the basket’s lining.
Turns out, the envelope was the last will and testament of Kimberly’s mother, and changes what an earlier will decreed (leaving Kimberly out of the inheritance entirely). Meanwhile, Kimberly’s half-sister Rachel is also looking for the new will. As is Kimberly’s new husband (who just happens to have been Lily’s former NYC chef boyfriend).
When one of the sisters is found dead on the grounds of the B & B, naturally Lily, Rose and their friends become involved. A simple case of greed and too many suspects make for another fun cozy mystery.
The latest (and last book in the series) Book Five, Trouble is Brewing, was just published in 2024.
Trouble is Brewing
Lily’s Cape Cod tearoom hosts a bridal shower for two families who are staying at Rose’s bed and breakfast. As the gifts are being opened, a gruesome gift sends the guest of honor screaming in fear.
The shocking gift is just one of many other tensions surrounding the families of the bride & groom. The mother’s-in-law are sniping at each other, and the groom's father, Ralph, offers his son a sizable bribe to call off the wedding.
Then Ralph is murdered and the wedding is postponed. All the members of the wedding party seem too willing to believe the worst of each other. Since this involves Lily and Rose, plus the tearoom and B & B, of course Lily becomes involved.
SUMMARY
Each book in the series is charming. We learn all about the various teas served in the tearoom, from the simple Cream Tea - Tea & Scones - all the way to the Royal Tea, which is very fancy indeed, including a three-tiered tray filled with fancy scones, delectable sandwiches and tiny tasty desserts. Each book also has recipes at the end for the various scones, tarts, cupcakes and sandwiches served for these teas.
We also get to know each character individually, including their interesting personalities, and how they interact with each other.
I was first drawn to this cozy mystery series because of the name of the town on Cape Cod used in the stories. Author Delany calls the town ‘North Augusta’, which immediately caught my attention because I once lived in North Augusta, South Carolina. North Augusta on Cape Cod is not a real place, but it is mentioned as being close to North Truro (Cape Cod, Massachusetts) and turns out to be the perfect location for a mystery series.
Cozy Mysteries frequently feature an ordinary person who somehow becomes involved as an amateur sleuth in a crime. They are often a known community person, such as a librarian, a book store owner, or, as in this series, the pastry chef of a tearoom, each taking place in a small community.
The Tea by the Sea Mystery Series is absolutely delightful and filled with characters you will come to love. I highly recommend this Cozy Mystery series by Vicki Delany.
*A Tea by the Sea series of cozy mysteries review is written by Wednesday Elf
This series sounds like one I would enjoy. Thanks for the recommendation
ReplyDeleteI think you would enjoy the series too, Mary Beth. Thanks for your visit to my book reviews.
DeleteI love the names of the books! They are all very clever. The fact that the author includes recipes in her books is yet another inducement to read this cozy mystery series.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is clever of an author to plan book titles around a central theme. The recipes, especially the one for scones, sound delicious.
DeleteI have enjoyed Vicky Delany’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series and the Tea by the Sea Mysteries series sounds even more like my cup of tea, so to speak! I look forward to reading it. Thanks so much for your review and recommendation.
ReplyDeleteI saw that Author Delany had written a cozy mystery series around a Sherlock Holmes Bookshop. I'll have to check those out next. :) Glad you enjoy her writing too, Margaret.
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ReplyDeleteLove that the books have recipes at the end for the various scones, cupcakes and sandwiches! This sounds like a delightful series where you really get to know and care about the characters and I think this is a cozy mystery series I would enjoy. Thank you for your recommendation.
ReplyDeleteThis series sounds so appealing. I love the location, and the connection to 'tea' - Wouldn't these make a wonderful Hallmark movie series?
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, another series of books that I must read. They sound like a fun and interesting mystery series that I'm sure I'd enjoy! Thanks Pat Austin for these recommendations!
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